Tag Archives: Burns & Allen

CBS couldn’t wait to put Jack Benny at the head of its Sunday night class. (Photo: CBS.)

Now comes the time for Jack Benny and CBS to put Bill Paley’s money where the comedian’s mouth is. The question before the houses of Paley and NBC emperor David Sarnoff is whether the jump proves bonanza or bust.

By the end of the 1940-41 season, George Burns and Gracie Allen have a serious problem on their hands. The longtime boy-girl core of their routines may have made them stars when they took them from vaudeville to radio, but they now seem as refreshing as a year-old beer.